By Kyle Orland

In my younger days, I remember selling my entire collection of NES games to a local consignment shop so I could buy some new SNES game. Recently, I bought back that entire NES collection piece by piece in a powerful fit of nostalgia. The experience made me re-examine the way the used game market affects how we gamers personally value our used games.

The economic impact of the used game market is apparent. Seventy percent of gamers play used games, according to a Ziff Davis survey, and retailers make up to 40 percent profit margins on their sale, according to CNN/Money (compared to 10 percent or less for new games). The popularity of trading games only increases during the holidays, as any customer caught in a line behind someone trading in a crate full of PS2 games this season can tell you.

But for the player the effects of selling a game are psychological as well as economic. When players have a monetary incentive to quickly beat and return a game, that's what they tend to do. In effect, the game becomes a commodity that has an ever-decreasing after-market value as soon as it's purchased. Once the market value is worth more than the perceived play value, the disc goes off to the Great Gamestop in the Sky. That copy of Madden 2006 won't be worth too much in 2006, after all.

Call me an out-of-date Nintendo apologist, but I tend to appreciate quality over quantity. When I buy a game, I want an experience that I'll be eager to relive, even if it's just on some idle nostalgia-filled evening with no good new releases. I want a well-crafted work of art that will become a part of my permanent collection, not just a disc that will be quickly consumed and belched back into the marketplace.

I'm not saying we should prevent people from trading in games. I believe a customer should be able to get the fair market value for their used game. Personally, I've sold back many a clunker that I couldn't envision ever wanting to play again.

But I urge those of you considering trading in your memories for the promise of the latest and greatest to first decide what you want to get out of the games you buy. Are you an art collector, looking for the most rewarding experience, or a commodity dealer, looking to maximize the monetary value of your pastime? Decide carefully, or in ten years you might find yourself re-purchasing your entire PS2 collection in a fit of nostalgia.